STOCKTON - The Stockton Police Department released statistics Friday showing that violent crime continues to be down dramatically from 2012 despite a recent uptick in the homicide rate.

The September statistics show a 19.2 percent decline in violent crime and a 54 percent drop in homicides over the first nine months of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012, police said. The Police Department investigated 23 homicides over the first ninth months of 2013, down from 50 in 2012, when the city hit an all-time annual high of 71 homicides.

"Even though violent crime is down 19 percent, we did see an increase in homicides between the months of August and September," said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Police Department. "This serves as a reminder that, even though the men and women of the Stockton Police Department and our collaborative law enforcement partners have laid a strong foundation in combating violent crime in the city, we still have a ways to go and need the continued support from the community with our crime-fighting efforts."

The reduction of violent crime was offset only slightly by a 3.4 percent increase in property crime, authorities said. The decrease in violent crime was even greater than the 16.8 percent decline seen midway through the year, but the statistics revealed a recent rise in homicides, which were down 63.6 percent over the first six months of 2013.

The city has also experienced a 31.3 percent drop in robbery, a 12.3 percent decrease in aggravated assault and a 6.4 percent decline in motor vehicle theft from September 2012. But larceny was up 10.1 percent and arson was up 26.9 percent, police said.